He’s earned his fortune through a lifetime of business deals, including the $US5.7 billion sale of Broadcast.com, his ownership of the Dallas Mavericks, and investments made on ABC’s “Shark Tank.”

Cuban has spent millions on private aeroplanes, a yacht, and a luxurious Dallas home, not to mention $US2 million in fines from the NBA.

Cuban is in the news this week after an investigation into the Mavericks organisation surfaced evidence of a hostile workplace for women. Cuban has pledged to donate $US10 million to women’s causes and domestic violence awareness.

Mark Cuban is one of the wealthiest people in America, with an estimated net worth of $US3.9 billion according to Forbes.

The businessman and investor earned his fortune with a series of shrewd business deals starting in the 1990s, most notably the sale of his streaming site Broadcast.com for $US5.7 billion in stocks.

He bought the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks in 2000 and helped transform them into a championship team.

And he’s added to his empire with investments like the ones he makes each week on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” where he’s been a regular for eight years.

Cuban is in the news this week after an investigation into the Mavericks organisation surfaced evidence of a hostile workplace for women. Cuban has pledged to donate $US10 million to women’s causes and domestic violence awareness.

But $US10 million isn’t the fortune it sounds like to the billionaire. Over the years, he’s spent his money on private planes, a 24,000-square-foot house, a $US110,000 bar tab, and millions of dollars of fines from the NBA.

Read on to see how Cuban has earned – and spent – his fortune.

Mark Cuban is worth an estimated $US3.9 billion, according to Forbes. That ranks him among the 250 richest people in America.

Around that time, Cuban bought a Gulfstream V business jet for $US40 million. To this day, it holds the Guinness world record for the biggest purchase ever conducted over the internet.

Cuban called the plane one of the smartest purchases he’s ever made. “It’s obviously brutally expensive, but time is the one asset we simply don’t own,” he wrote for Men’s Health. “It saves me hours and hours.”

After Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, Cuban lent his private plane to Mavericks point guard and Puerto Rico native J.J. Barea to fly food, water, and supplies to the island.

In response to an NBA investigation — prompted by a February Sports Illustrated report — that unearthed evidence of the Mavericks organisation having been a discriminatory and toxic workplace for women, Cuban pledged $US10 million to women’s causes and domestic violence awareness.

When the Mavericks won the NBA championship in 2011, Cuban reportedly spent $US110,000 on his team’s bar tab that night. “Worth every penny,” he told The New York Post.

The next year, Cuban chipped in $US40,000 to save the local Greenville Avenue St. Patrick’s Day Parade when the group running the annual event ran out of funding. “You just can’t let a Dallas tradition like that die,” Cuban said.

Cuban leveraged his fame into a short-lived 2004 reality series called “The Benefactor,” in which contestants competed to win $US1 million of Cuban’s money. However, the show was panned as a ripoff of “The Apprentice” and was cancelled after six episodes.

The largest deal he ever offered on the show came in 2015, when he proposed to buy the dating-app company Coffee Meets Bagel outright for $US30 million. The owners rejected the deal.

Cuban said one of the best purchases he ever made was an unlimited first-class American Airlines ticket for $US250,000 — a promotion that the airline offered from 1981 to 1994. Cuban and 25 other ticket-holders continue to enjoy free airfare for life.

Of course, considering he now owns two private jets and a yacht, first class might actually be a step down for Cuban.

Despite his sometimes lavish spending, Cuban keeps a frugal mentality much of the time. For example, he insists on buying items in bulk, especially items he knows he’ll need such as razors and toothpaste.

And he advocates for people to achieve financial independence by paying off debt and stashing six months’ worth of income in the bank.

It’s a combination of relentless work ethic and financial smarts that have not only made Cuban one of the richest people in America, but kept him that way. As he once said, “Work like there is someone working 24 hours a day to take it all away from you.”